Cleaning C22 Bottom

[Carl_IN_TX]

I pulled my C22 after a year in a marina slip and brought it home for cleaning and maintenance. Is there anything I need to do to the hull other than just scrup it down and get the scum off? The boat is used only in a fresh water lake in central TX. Any kind of paint needed on it?

Also what works best on the companionway boards. They sure need to be refinished. They are the original teak boards.

Thanks and happy sailing.

Carl

[Carl_IN_TX]

I should also say that there is no paint on it now. I am guessing that waxing with a marine-grade was after cleaning will be best? Also, with the boat sitting on the trailor, what is the best way to raise the boat a little to get to the hull now hidden behind the bunk boards? All newby questions, but I want to do it right.

Thanks again,
Carl

[Mario G]

Carl my companionway boards sat for at least 15 yrs neglected and all I use is westco teak oil.

[CaptainScott]

Hi Carl,

This area is pretty subjective on what you may want to do to the bottom of your boat.

There are 3 pretty basic options.

1) if the bottom is original and unpainted you can clean it thoroughly and wax it. This option is generally taken by folks that trailer sail. The boat stays on the trailer most of the time and gets a good washing after each use.

2) You can use a bottom paint that is a very hard paint. This paint is generally selected by performance sailors. You can fair your bottom and paint it with a hard paint that will look great and become a very nice slippery bottom for speed. This paint still requires bottom being cleaned regularly depending on conditions.

3) You can paint with a softer ablative paint. This paint can get very expensive. This paint is softer and intentionally sluffs off the boat bottom as barnicales and what not stick to the boat. This method is more for sailboats not concerned with every little but of performance.




FYI:
I have two sailboats that sit in the water. 1 year round and one only for about 1/2 the year. Both get the ablative paint. Yes the paint is soft and not performance oriented but I'm OK with that. I gave up performance in my sailboats years ago. I can paint DEstiny with 3/4 of a gallon on a good year which leaves me enough to touch up Lady Jo. All leading edges like the bow, front of keel and rudder will require multiple coats.



As far as the wood goes, there is a lot of preferece here too. I did Lady Di the other C22 I had all in Cetol. It looks great and dings patch very easily. The Cetol however has a bit of an orange hue to it where Varnish looks more yellowish. Varnish is more work to fix and patch dings. teak oil is by far the easiest but requires more attention several times a year to keep it look real nice! Easy but again, more effort.


You should get a lot of opionins on these issues!
Hope this helps!
Scott

[Carl_IN_TX]

I found a website with some details on bottom painting:
http://www.marinepainting.net/anti-foul ... paint.html

Thanks for the replies, they will help. Now I just got to decide what to paint it with! At least I don't have barnacles to worry about on our lake!

Carl

[John K]

I'll second the Cetol. Looks good, and durable.

[tgentry]

Scott,
Do you use bottom paint on the swing keel as well?

[CaptainScott]

Scott,
Do you use bottom paint on the swing keel as well?

Yes, I do.

I recommend caution though. the keel must be completely primed some of the bottom paints have copper in them that can cause more electrolosis.



FYI: I use Interlux Micron Extra. It is expensive but with Destiny I can actually go two years between bottom paints. For years I pulled her EVERY year only to find that she was in fantastic shape. So one year we decided to dive her for zincs and skip the paint. So after two years I find that she is still very good. we've been doing that ever since. One year she gets pulled, sanded, and painted. NExt year I dive on her and change the zincs.

See here me sanding the previous years ablative paint? We had painted her bottom an obtuse green.



Since we've gone to black. This allows us a color layer to see if we are nearing he end of life of the current paint. Also when sanding we never go below the first year green.

See her black going back in!



Scott